Equivalence and Family
by Crimson Cutie
Summary: The travels and adventures of Wrath. Postseries Premovie.
1. Apple

Yet another post-series pre-movie wrath fic from me. Oh well, I can only write where my inspiration and patience take me. This one should have a happier ending though, well maybe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Wrath or the world of FMA. I do own my original character.

"Here, I got one for you." I turned from the circles I was drawing in the dirt to see the speaker. A girl a couple years older than me was holding an apple in each hand. Her right arm was extended offering the apple in that hand to me.

"Don't want it." I replied returning my eyes to ground.

"Yes you do." She countered. "You haven't eaten in at least a day."

"Don't want it." I repeated even though my stomach was starting to ache.

"Come on," she urged, "I took it especially for you. You have to eat." I looked at her again. Her right arm was out and waiting. Of course it was the right- right arms are for giving away. You lose them if you're not careful. I didn't want to take from hers. "If you don't take it," she threatened, "then I'll just throw it to you and it will land on the ground and get dirty. But you're hungry so you'll eat it eventually. Just take it now."

I stared at her trying to figure out if what she said made sense or not. I gave up and took the apple. I used my right hand, the automail one, to take it. I took a bite, the apple tasted good, nice and crisp. I resisted the urge to wolf it down; instead I ate it slowly savoring it.

She had started her apple too, eating slowly bite by bite. "See I told you you wanted it," she said in between bites. She finished before me, walked over and inspected my dirt circles. "Are you an alchemist?" she asked. "Those kind of look like alchemy circles."

"Nope," I told her. I hadn't really meant for them to be alchemy circles, I was just drawing them in dirt because I was bored. But I didn't bother to tell her that, it wasn't her business.

"I'm Jessica," she said suddenly.

She gave me her name so she wanted to know mine: equivalent exchange. "I'm Wrath," I told her.

She wrinkled her nose, "Wrath's a funny name."

I didn't reply I went back to my apple. Once I finished a resumed drawing in the dirt. I didn't want to make alchemy circles so I tried to draw a tree instead. She didn't go. She hung around watching me draw. Finally I got tired of waiting. "What do you want?" I asked her.

She had some expression on her face. It looked kind of like surprise but not really, I don't understand enough about emotions to know what it was. "Nothing," she said.

That couldn't be true. "You got me an apple- you want something from me, equivalent exchange."

She blinked, "I got you an apple because you looked hungry. I don't want nothing from you."

"Nothings free," I told her, shocked she was older than me and didn't know this, "Everything has a price, you give and get equally, and you only do something because you want something." She was giving me a funny look. I waited. She had to want something. There had to be something I could give her, I had to balance things- if you don't balance on your own then something will be taken from you in payment.

At last she answered me, "I guess, I guess all I really wanted was some company. I've been by myself for awhile now and I'm lonely. All I really want is for you to let me stay by you for awhile."

It was a funny exchange, an apple for letting her stay near but I still don't really get what equals what. If being nearby was what she said she wanted then I was happy to give it to her. I moved on from my attempted tree and started trying to draw a dog. She joined me sitting by the dirt using her fingers to draw starting to form a house. That was how we passed the afternoon, making pictures in the dirt separately but together.

AN: I wanted to try to write a character that had a skewered view on the world. Post series Wrath fit the bill. I will admit that I usually run from any story with an original character but Wrath was just too alone so I needed to create someone for him to interact with. I actually have an idea where I want this to go so there will be more chapters coming.


	2. Alchemy

Jessica came back the next day. I saw her coming. I was climbing a tree, which was both easy and hard. Easy cause I'm strong and flexible and I climbed lots of trees before, but hard cause the metal is heavy and I'm not used to it.

She didn't see me in the tree. She looked around and then she heard my left leg clunk and looked up. "Hey," she greeted me, "I was planning on leaving town and wondered if you wanted to come with me. I'm asking for your company in exchange for which you'll have mine." It seemed simple enough and I had nothing better to do, so I agreed and we left town together.

She didn't have any particular place she wanted to go to. Neither did I. I did have a list of places I wanted to avoid: Dublith, Central, Resembool and Lior. She didn't want to go anywhere near a town called Landis which is way over west. This left of most of the country to explore. The first town we headed to, I kind of regretted after I found out Fullmetal had been there. If I could I'd want to go somewhere I would never have to hear of him. But he was famous everywhere.

At first Jessica got most of the food. When I'd been by myself I'd tried to survive on as little as possible. I ate food out of the trash when I could find some. Jessica needed more food then me. She, like everyone, just assumed I was human and I needed it too. I didn't want her to find out the truth. Jessica stole food daily from markets whenever she could get away with it. I don't like stealing because I know there is no equivalence. One day something will be taken for all I've stolen. But I didn't like making Jessica provide all the food. So I started taking my turn, stealing if I couldn't find it elsewhere.

We traveled together for awhile. In the beginning it was odd; I'd been alone for awhile. But eventually I got used to her. She liked to talk which worked out well, cause I was usually pretty quiet. She'd tell me stuff, explain things to me. I liked having someone else there. I tried not to like having her near so much. If you cling to tightly too someone, you'll lose them. I learned that lesson the hard way. I told myself that if she left it wouldn't bother me at all.

The first time I lost her, it was me who left. We had what I guess you could call our first fight. She wanted me to use alchemy to fix something that had broken.

"I'm not an alchemist." I told her.

"But you can draw alchemy circles. I've seen you do it"

"I can't do alchemy."

"What about your mother, did you learn them from her? Was she an alchemist?"

I felt my back stiffen. "Sloth mommy couldn't do alchemy either." A little voice in the back of my head was whispering _but Sloth isn't your real mommy_. I tried to ignore it.

Jessica wouldn't let the subject drop. "Equivalence, that's an alchemy thing. Who taught that to you?" She was looking expectantly at me. She wanted something from me but I didn't know what it was.

"I learned it myself." This was true and also a lie.

"You told me you lived with Sloth mommy in Central. Who did you live with before Sloth mommy? Was she an alchemist?"

An image came into my mind. Sharp features, stern mouth, but eyes that were almost pleading- no, I don't want to see it. I tried to block it out. "She was nobody," I yelled. "NOBODY…she wasn't…SHE WASN'T MY MOTHER!" I had to get away. I took off, away from Jessica and away from her questions but no matter how far I ran I couldn't get away from the image of that woman.

Jessica found me later. I was by myself in an alley throwing stones at a brick wall, trying not to think of that woman. Jessica sat down nearby me and was real quiet.

"I'm sorry," she said at last. "I didn't mean to pry. I should've kept my mouth shut."

I still couldn't get _her _out of my head. Maybe if I answered Jessica I would be able to. "She was alchemist." I said softly still trying to erase her image from my mind. "That woman," I wouldn't call her mommy "she's an alchemist."

"Okay," Jessica said. She was quiet for a bit. "My parents were farmers." she blurted out. She looked at me expectantly. "That's how it works right? Equivalence? You tell me something- I tell you something about me."

We sat in silence for a long time. Just thinking and remembering and trying not to remember. Eventually Jessica stood up, "It's getting late and I think I'm going to find some dinner. Want to come with me?" She was looking almost hopefully at me. She wanted something again and this time I knew what it was.

"Okay." I told her. I followed her out of the alley. And the next day when she left town I followed her still.


	3. Sister

Jessica and I spent our days together doing nothing really. We didn't go to school; we didn't go to work. We climbed trees. We lay in the grass and looked at the sky. Jessica swiped something called chalk and we drew pictures in the street. She showed me how to play a game called hopscotch. She taught me other games too: tick-tack-toe, duck-duck-goose (which is hard to play with just two people), hide and go seek, and tag.

Every so often I'd say something and she'd give me this real funny look. She did it when I told her I didn't know how to play hide and go seek. "You sure you never heard of this game before?" she asked me

"Yeah," I said kind of quickly and I don't know a little angry maybe.

Jessica gave me another funny look but told me "There's nothing wrong with that. I was just surprised. I didn't think anybody could get to your age and not know tick-tack toe or hide and go seek or at least tag."

I felt my face get hot. "Well, I don't know them," I said still angry.

"Okay, okay," she said. "I didn't mean nothing by it. I was just surprised is all." I didn't say anything back. I kicked some loose pebbles. I wasn't angry anymore, I was feeling something else: scared. I didn't want her to find out the reason I don't know this stuff was because I'm not human; I didn't have a normal childhood. I couldn't explain myself so I kept quiet. I guess the silence bugged Jessica, after few minutes she said real quietly "don't run away again."

I wasn't planning on running then, not unless she found out the truth. I guess I planned on leaving her eventually. She was looking at me nervously though. She looked kind of worried or upset or something. I felt like I had to say something. "I won't." I told her and I promised myself I'd keep my word by not leaving anytime soon.

Jessica seemed to relax. She smiled at me and asked, "Do you want to hide or be the seeker first?"

We played for awhile. I was a pretty good hider. Once she couldn't find me at all. She looked all over the place. Then she yelled, "Wrath I give up. Come on out." I didn't know if I was supposed to come out or not so I stayed hidden. She went around yelling for me to come out. After I while her voice got, I don't know, sort of different I guess. And I realized that she wasn't having fun anymore. This meant we should probably stop the game.

"I'm here," I called emerging from my hiding place.

She looked so happy to see me I couldn't believe it. Then she got angry, "Why didn't you come when I called."

"I was hiding. You weren't supposed to find me." She taught me the rules she should know this.

"Whenever someone says 'I give up' that means the game is over. Come out right away."

"Okay," I told her quietly. She was pretty angry at me given that I didn't know any of this stuff.

She must've realized this cause she stopped being angry. "It's alright," she told me and she smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.

We were done playing hide and go seek so we switched games. Later that day I made another mistake: I called her mommy. I didn't mean too really. I meant to say Jessica but for some reason I said mommy instead. My face got really red afterward. And she was looking at me funny again. I don't like it when she looks at me funny it makes me feel weird like I'm a freak. I am a homunculus so I know I am a freak but it doesn't mean I want to feel like one. This had to be one of funniest looks she'd ever given me too. She looked I don't know like she wanted to laugh but sad at the same time.

Finally she said, "I think I'm a little young to be your mother. I could be you big sister instead. Big sister Jessica how does that sound?"

Mommies never seem to work out for me; maybe a sister would be better. I liked the way it sounded, "Sister," I said trying out the word.

"That's right, brother," Jessica said back. She was smiling at me with her mouth. Her eyes looked like they were going to cry though.

She was weird for the rest of day, real quiet and even though she was close I think her thoughts were far away. If this was the price for gaining a sister I wasn't sure I wanted it. But the next day she was back to her normal self and the day after that too. At first she had crying eyes when I called her sister but eventually those faded. So I decided the price, whatever it was, had been worth it. And that was how I gained a sister.

* * *

I wanted to update sooner, but the current chapter I've been working on is giving me some trouble. Also, I've been spending some of the time I'd normally spend writing studying for a certification exam. My next update will be probably take a little while too because I'll still be studying. 


	4. Rush Valley Pt 1

"I have to admit, I've wondered what the automail capitol would be like." Big Sister said to me one afternoon as we walked down a street in Rush Valley.

All around us the sun gleamed off metal as shops displayed their wears. Other venders' stalls lined the street selling everything from food to jewelry to automail maintenance kits. Shoppers pushed their way around us and kids ran underfoot. "Why?" I asked her while watching some kids duck into an alley, "It seems like just another town to me."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'd never seen automail before I met you. I thought the whole idea of having metal limbs very fascinating. Maybe even, when I was younger, I thought there was something magical about it." I didn't think there was anything magical about missing limbs. But maybe getting new automail ones make it special. I looked at my automail arm. I spread the fingers then made a fist. I repeated the action only with my left. I tried to decide if there was anything weird about the automail. There didn't seem to be. Maybe it was because I'm a homunculus so both my arms are weird.

Sister saw what I was doing and laughed. "I admit the whole magical thing is because I didn't really know anything about automail. You know how when you're a kid sometimes your imagination runs away with you and you turn ordinary into extraordinary?" I only sort of understood what she was talking about but it didn't matter because she continued without waiting for me to respond. "Still, I like this town; it has a nice feel to it. At least your automail blends it here."

It was sort of true. In other town where people aren't so used to seeing metal limbs I would get funny looks. I didn't get those here but I was getting a different kind of attention. My automail wasn't supposed to clunk and somehow all of the automail sellers noticed. They kept bothering me, offering me 'good deals' on a tune-up or repairs. "I guess," I replied shooting a look at an eager man who looked ready to approach.

"I…" she started to reply.

I didn't hear the rest of what sister said because she was drown out by a loud female voice which called out "Wrath!" I froze in place, I recognized that voice. Winry Rockbelle marched up the street to me and grabbed my arm. "What have you done?" she cried out, "What have you done to my beautiful automail!" Winry's voiced sounded funny to me, it sounded higher than her normal voice. It almost sounded like she was in pain. She bent my right arm wincing when she heard a noise that had become so familiar I didn't even notice it anymore. "Come on," Winry said. I think she was trying not to sound angry. "We're going to go get some maintenance." She took me by the left hand and led me back down the street. I looked for sister but she was nowhere to be seen.

Winry took me to a small automail shop located in an alley. Inside the shop was cluttered, not at all like some of the larger shops out by the main street. I liked it though it was a more cozy feeling. Still, for some reason I couldn't relax. Winry sat me down in a chair and I jumped up the second someone came in the room.

The man who'd entered was a stern looking man with white hair. I didn't like the way he looked at me. I felt like he could see through me.

"This is one of Granny's clients," Winry told him, not even looking up from my arm. "I'm going to give him a tune-up."

"Hrph," was all the man said. He picked up some tools that were lying around and left. I was glad he left. I didn't like the way he studied me and he kind of reminded me of another man I want to forget.

Winry didn't examine my automail for long. "I'm going to have to open these limbs up and completely clean them." she told me. Her voice sounded strange again almost like she was going to cry or scream or something. She continued by telling me that it would be least painful if she detached the limbs until she was done. Two clicks later I was missing an arm and a leg. Winry found something she called a spare leg. She told me, I couldn't move it like my automail but it would support my weight and with a little practice I could walk with it on.

Winry disappeared into the work room leaving me alone. I tried to stand on the spare and toppled over instead. Trying to climb my way back to my feet with only one working arm and only one leg I could control was nearly impossible. I had almost made it when I put weight on the spare and fell over again. My second attempt to stand wasn't much better than the first. I made in to my feet, but when I tried to take a step I lost my balance again.

As I was fighting my way to my feet once more I had a crazy idea. I was wondering where Sister had went, I then I realized it: somehow seeing Winry again maybe and having her fix my automail had made me lose Sister. An equivalent exchange, I'd traded Sister for Winry without even realizing it. It was possible to get Sister back but it wouldn't be easy. If I could manage to move with the spare and if I could somehow find Sister I could get her back. There was something wrong with my trade somewhere, it didn't seem equal but I knew the final conclusion was right. If I could I find Sister soon I would get her back, but if I didn't I would lose her.

This made me much more determined to learn to walk with the spare, but it didn't make it any easier. While I struggled with it a girl came in the shop. She had an automail arm too. "Whatcha doing?" she asked. At this point I'd fallen over again and was lying on the floor.

"Walking," I told her. She watched me crawl on the floor and use a wall to right myself.

"Need some help?" She asked me.

"I can mange" I did want to risk messing up the exchange, by not paying the full price because I got help.

"Of course you can," she replied. She propped herself down on the counter. I heard a metal noise coming from her legs and figured she must have an automail leg too. She watched me fall over again then exclaimed "Oh" and jumped off the counter. She grabbed a piece of polished wood. "Here," she said holding it out to me, "Use this cane to help you balance."

I made my way up to a standing position once more and took the cane from her. It worked, just when I would lose my balance on the spare I could use the cane to keep from falling over. My walk was pretty unsteady and it wasn't easy but using the cane I managed to finally make my way out of the shop.

Luckily I didn't have to go far. I'd only made it out halfway down the alley when I heard a voice call, "Wrath!" On one side of the alley was a huge pile of crates and debris. Sister was standing behind some of the crates. It didn't occur to me until later that she had been hiding back there. She climbed onto one of the boxes now and sat down. I hobbled my way over to her.

I thought sister would say something; she was always the talkative one. But she was quiet just kind of staring at me. This was the first time she'd seen me without the automail so I wasn't that surprised when she looked at my lack of right arm. It wasn't the only place she looked though. She stared in my eyes also.

A lot of times silence is okay with me, but not this one. It was making me uncomfortable. I started explaining stuff to her, just to stop the silence. "That was Winry, she um," how could I explain Winry to her, "She made my automail. She likes to take care of it. Doesn't like it when it's not running right. I didn't know she'd be here, she's from um, Resembool."

"Resembool," Sister repeated slowly and quietly. She knew it was one of the places I was avoiding. "Winry must be pretty close if she personally made your automail." I knew Sister well enough now that sometimes I could detect what was in her voice when it didn't sound normal. I could tell she sounded sad for some reason.

"She didn't make it for me, she made it for, for someone else, but he can't use it anymore and I can so she gave it to me." I hastily explained again.

"Oh," was all Sister said looking down.

"I have to wait for her to fix my automail then we can leave. I want, I want to leave this town." When I said it, I knew it was true. I didn't want to stay in Rush Valley, not if Winry was there. It was too dangerous. Being around Winry made me remember stuff. And she might, she might tell that lady where I am.

Sister smiled at me, a real smile with no crying eyes. "Alright," she told me. "If they finish your automail by nighttime wait till they go asleep then come outside. I'll be waiting for you." She ruffled my hair. "You'd better go back now and make sure you thank this Winry for repairing your automail."

Sister jumped off the crate then headed out of the alley. I turned and made my awkward way back to the shop.


	5. Rush Valley Pt 2

Winry didn't finish repairing my automail until after dinner. I passed the time before dinner sitting in front room of the shop trying to amuse myself. It was harder than I'd realized entertaining yourself when you're alone. It had been months now since Sister had first joined me and I'd forgotten what it was like to be so alone. It made me miss Sister terribly. I felt a pang in my heart when I realized I'd done what I hadn't want to do- I'd gotten attached to her. I can't do that, I can't cling so tightly to her because I'll lose her just like I lost Sloth mommy. But even though I shouldn't want her, a part of me was happy that did. Some part of me was glad that I had someone who I missed, that I had found more family.

It was kind of confusing. While I was sitting there trying to decide if missing someone was a good or bad thing, the girl with automail from before came back. "Did the cane work out okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah."

"So," she peered down at me from her spot on the front counter, "Are you a friend of Winry's?"

"She made my automail," I replied which wasn't really an answer to her question.

"I'm Paniya. What's your name?"

"Wrath."

"I've never heard Winry mention a Wrath." Paniya was looking at me closely like she was trying to see in me or something. "You know, you kind of remind me of someone," I felt my stomach drop; I had a feeling I knew who she was talking about. "You only sort of look like him, but you both have the same limbs missing…" her voice kind of trailed off. She was talking more to herself then to me. "Are you Edward?" she asked suddenly her voice sounded pretty unsure like she didn't think I was but decided to ask anyways.

I don't want to think about him. "NO," I yelled. I don't want to be him. There was a time when I did. I thought if I took his life I could be human. But it didn't work.

Paniya shrugged. "I didn't really think you were him, but you have the exact same automail that Ed had."

I wished she'd stop taking about Ed but I pretended like it didn't bother me. I shrugged, "It's his automail." I told her, "Winry gave it to me because it fits me too."

Paniya leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "Do you know where Ed is?" she asked, "Winry won't tell me what happened. She gets teary when I asked her and I think he might be dead or something, but she's making new automail for him. She writes him letters too. She sends the ones she writes to Alphonse but she never sends the ones addressed to Ed."

I shrugged again, "He's gone." I told Paniya, letting her decide whatever she wanted to.

"I thought so," said Paniya to herself. "Poor Winry, she hasn't accepted it yet." Paniya went into the back and left me alone in front.

Eventually it was suppertime. They invited me to join them. It was the four of us at the table: me, Winry, Paniya and the gruff man whose name was Dominick. It was really uncomfortable. Winry would try to ask me questions about what I'd been up to, but was afraid of my answers because she didn't want me to reveal too much. I don't think she wanted Dominick or Paniya to know that I'm a homunculus or why Winry and I know each other. So her questions would come out weird. Doninick stared at me most of the meal. I hated his stare, it made me feel uncomfortable and I fidgeted a lot. Paniya talked when Winry wasn't. She spoke just to cover the silence, told us stories about stuff we didn't care about. But Paniya also paid close attention to me and Winry, she hung on every word I said.

I didn't really answer Wirny's questions. I'd shrug or give her one word answers. I nibbled at my food and waiting for the meal to end. Finally it did. I helped Paniya with the dishes while Winry finished my automail.

Winry's voice sounded tired when she reattached the automail. "I managed to completely clean out both limbs. Some of the wires had been corrupted and had to be replaced also…" I tuned her out and stared at the ceiling instead.

The sharp pain of her reactivating the automail brought me back to reality. Because of my homunculi healing abilities my body was able to adjust quickly and almost instantly I had full function back. I wanted to be gone from the strange shop then and there but Winry grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back down. "We are going to go over the basics of automail maintenance," she informed me. "Pay attention Wrath, I don't want to ever see automail like this again."

She got out an automail kit and began to demonstrate. I paid close attention because the better I did my maintenance the longer it would be before I would have to see her again. When she had finished she gave me the kit to keep and told me I could spend the night. I didn't want to stay, but Sister had said to wait till they were all asleep so I agreed.

I lay in bed and waited till I thought they were all asleep. Then I tiptoed to the front room.

"Leaving so soon?" Dominck's voice startled me.

"Yeah," it was the only thing I could think to say.

"Not even going to thank Winry for her hard work? She spent a lot of time on your automail."

I had thanked her, hadn't I? I couldn't remember. "Tell her I said thank you."

He was doing the staring thing again. "Not going to say thank you yourself?"

I didn't know what to say I just really wanted him to stop starring. "I have to go."

"Go then." He told me turned to leave the room but then faced me again and added, "Don't forget the kit she gave you." He pointed to the place where I'd left it. "Do your maintenance." He left the room.

I picked up the kit which I'd forgotten. "Sorry Winry," I whispered. I don't even know what I was sorry about but I felt like I had to say it. And then I left.

I made it about halfway down the alley before Sister appeared. She was hiding behind the crates again. "Ready?" she asked me.

"Let's go." I told her. We walked all night. It was late morning when sister laid down to sleep under the shade of a tree. I lay down too but I didn't sleep, instead I stared back the way we'd come; Rush Valley was just a spec in the distance.

* * *

Sorry about the long time between updates. I have a bunch of reasons, but I won't bother listing them all. I will say that I'm going to take the test I've been studying for this week so hopefully I will have more free time to write soon. 


	6. My Monster

"I've been thinking…" started Sister as the two of us made our way down the streets of East City. She let her sentence trail off. I waited for her to say more. "I've been thinking," she said again, "Thinking a lot about your thing with equivalent exchange."

"It's not my thing," I told her. "It's a law, a natural law." I'd eventually come to the conclusion that even though equivalent exchange ran the world many people didn't even realize it.

"Okay," she said but I could tell from her voice she didn't really believe me. "It comes from alchemy though right? I not saying you're an alchemist," she quickly added. "But equivalent exchange it's a law of alchemy, right?"

"Mankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange." I recited. "Your starting materials must be of equal mass and materials as you finished product."

Sister gave me a funny look. "But you believe equivalent exchange applies to more than just alchemy, you believe it controls our lives too. That if we want something we must give something else up and if we lose something we will always get something in return."

"That's the way it works."

"Is it possible then," she asked turning to face me. "Could someone make exchange without realizing it? Trade one thing for another without even wanting to? Give something up and gain something new but something you didn't even really want, maybe, maybe you liked better what you started with?" Her words starting coming out in a tumble and it took me a moment to understand them.

"It happens," I said softly, thinking of a time when it happened to me.

Sister nodded. "What about, what about if you lose something, I mean something is taken from you without your permission. You gain something for it but it's a trade you never wanted or asked for. Does that happen?"

I wanted to tell her it would never happen like that. But I didn't want to lie. "All of the time."

"But…but…THAT'S NOT FAIR." Her voice got loud toward the end and she sounded pretty angry.

She was right. It wasn't fair. I'd learned to accept that equivalent exchange was a law, a law we could do nothing about so I never questioned it. But she was right it wasn't fair. And then, then I wanted to laugh because suddenly it was funny. Equivalent exchange- trading one thing for something of equal value- it sounded fair, it sounded like it should be the fairest thing in the world, but it wasn't. Why must we always lose in order to gain? It wasn't fair.

"No," Sister said suddenly startling me out of my thoughts, "No," she said more quietly, to herself maybe, "that can't be the way it works." She was quiet for a bit. "Say Brother?" she asked after we'd been walking it silence for a bit. "What would happen if you took something and didn't pay for it? "

I rubbed my automail arm and shivered at the memory, "Something will be taken from you in payment."

She was giving me a really funny look, "What exactly happened…" There was more to her question I think but I didn't hear it. I was distracted because I heard _it_, the worst sound in the world. It wasn't a baby crying this time; the kid was a little older, old enough to stand at least, but the sound was the same.

And of course I saw _it_. The noise was coming from all around. I could see the gate, all of the creatures inside, creatures that used to be just like me. I could feel their desire, their want, they wanted something, anything, they were incomplete. And I was being drawn back into the darkness. Soon the gate would close and I would be stuck. And the woman she was reaching for me…

I could see all this in my head and I didn't want to. At the same time I knew I was still standing on the street and I had to make it stop. If I could shut the kid up then I wouldn't remember anymore. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I screamed at the kid. But the kid just cried louder. So I grabbed a shovel from a nearby stall and swung it at the kid. Someone grabbed the kid's arm and pulled it out of the way before I hit it. It was still crying. "SHUT UP," I swung again.

"WRATH!" Sister screamed louder than I'd ever heard her scream before. I stopped mid-swing frozen by her scream. All around me people were starring. Sister was giving me this not so nice look. The stupid kid had finally stopped crying and was looking at me with huge eyes. For a moment nobody moved. Then someone tried to grab me. I was too fast for them. I dropped the shovel and took off down the street as fast as I could.

I could hear footsteps following me. I ran as hard and as fast as I could. I didn't want to look behind me I just kept ruining hoping the footsteps would stop. I'd been running for a few minuets when a tired voice called, "Wait…it's just me."

I stopped and turned around. Sister was behind me bent over and painting. A few people were walking by and giving us funny looks but I don't think that they were any of the people from before. "We…shou…should…go," sister was panting so hard she could barely talk. "Someone…might…come looking…for you…and you…kind of…standout."

She was right. I'd taken to wearing a long sleeve shirt and long pants to hide my automail and red homunculi marks better, but since I didn't wear gloves or shoes I didn't completely hide the automail, nor did I hide my violet eyes. I just nodded and we started walking away.

We walked in silence for a long time. I think, I think she was mad at me. It occurred to me that she was looking at me like I was monster. I'd made the mistake of letting her see the monster inside me, the monster that I am. I hadn't realized it until then but I hadn't done anything so bad around her. I didn't mean not to it just happened that way.

The red stones had made the monster in me bigger and they had given it a voice. They had bought out my wrath. I had so much too. I was angry. I so was angry at that woman for making me- giving me a cursed life and for abandoning me. Edward, he too had brought out the monster in me. Around him I had so much wrath and anger because I felt like he made me incomplete. His limbs gave me a taste of what I wasn't. All I wanted was to destroy him and make myself human. Sloth mommy and Master hadn't minded my wrath and encouraged it, especially when it served Master's purposes. I killed Lust because she tried to kill me and she disobeyed orders so I knew master would be angry with me if I didn't.

But killing Lust shook me, made me question if being human was worth it. After Sloth mommy died I just couldn't face that woman. I'm still angry at her though. All I wanted was to bring Sloth mommy back. It didn't work that way; I lost my I mean Ed's, limbs. I watched Ed die and the Al die and bring Ed back. Rose took me to the Rockbelle's. I got to meet the new Alphonse. Pinako and Winry made me automail. Everyone treated me okay but I ran away the moment I heard that woman was coming.

I don't know exactly how to explain what happened to my mind but it's like I just got lost or something. I lost my purpose when I realized the exchange for becoming human might not be worth it. I lost my rage at some point too. I didn't lose my rage at _her_, but the rest of my rage disappeared somehow. And I was left feeling empty and incomplete. And this time I had no idea how to fix this or if it was even possible to fix. So I just kind of set off wandering. And then I met Sister. I hadn't realized it but things had gotten better. I still felt incomplete, but at least I had purpose now, I was Jessica's little brother. Except I'd just gone and ruined it all.

Finally, hours must have passed before she spoke, Sister said to me in a whisper, "Why, why did you attack that boy?"

I had known for all those silent hours that when Sister did talk again she would ask that question. I should have prepared an answer. But I hadn't. I didn't have time to make up a story then so I told the truth. "I had to shut it up." I told her quietly. It wasn't enough. She was still giving me a look, a look that made me want to crawl into a hole. I had to make her understand. "I can't hear that noise. I hate it and it makes, it makes remember when…" I trailed off. I couldn't even say it. Just thinking about trying to say it was making me remember all over again. I started shaking; _No I don't want to see this_.

Sister put a hand on my shoulder and calmed my shaking. "It's okay," she told me quietly. "It's okay, you're with me now, you're with your big Sister and you're safe. Whatever happened is in the past. You don't have to tell me if you want to." She hugged me just like Sloth mommy used to. "It's okay," she whispered, "you're safe now."

* * *

Yeah I know it took me forever to update. I guess the best explanation I can give is I've been spending less time writing lately. Also my inspiration for this story is drying up. I know where I want the story to go but it's resisting me. Fear not though my readers, I still plan to finish this story. It took me over a month but I have just struggled through writing what should be the hardest chapter. So from here on out when I find the time to sit down and write it should come easier. I promise that I'm still committed to finishing my little tale of Wrath and his new family. 


	7. The Factory Pt 1

I was afraid that showing my monster to Sister would ruin our relationship but it didn't. Sister stuck by me sill. She did tell that it was wrong to attack children, that if I did it again she wouldn't forgive me. She told me if I ever heard crying again and couldn't stand it I should just run away. Get as far away as I had to so I wouldn't have to hear it. If she didn't follow or I lost her it was okay. We made a plan that if we ever got separated, we would meet back up in the last place we'd spent the night.

We had been traveling together for a couple of months now. I couldn't help but notice it was starting to get colder especially at night. The metal of my automail would seem to absorb the cold like a sponge. But I am homunculus and while I feel cold it couldn't really hurt me. I was more worried about Sister. I'd noticed her shivering at night.

The city we'd been staying in had this old abandoned factory. I should have realized that nothing good can come from abandoned factories. But I didn't. It's not that I forgot what happened at the last time I was in one, I just didn't realize that all abandoned factories are bad luck. Maybe the factories are abandoned because they are cursed or something. I hadn't figured this out yet so I thought the factory was a lucky find. We could sleep inside and then we wouldn't have to feel the cold wind. We could even start a little fire inside when it got colder.

When I suggested to Sister that we start sleeping in the factory she got this funny look on her face. She looked at the sky and sighed. "I can't, I'll never sleep with a roof over my head," she said real quietly. So quiet she was almost whispering.

I didn't understand why she'd say something like that. There was nothing wrong with sleeping inside. I'd done it before and nothing bad had happened. "You're cold at night." I told her. "The building would protect you from the wind."

"I'm okay," she replied. I knew she was lying but she said it in a voice that I knew I couldn't argue with.

"Please, the metal gets really cold a night," I pleaded. I wasn't lying cause it does, but I was sort of lying too because it didn't bother me that much.

She looked up at the sky again. I think she was looking for an answer. Then she turned and looked at me. I felt like now she was searching me for the answer. She must have found it or made up her mind on her own because when she finally spoke she said, "Okay Brother, I will sleep inside, for you." I don't know why it was such a big deal, but to her it was.

We walked over to the abandoned factory to check it out. She stopped twice on our way over. I was afraid she was going to turn around. But she took my hand in hers and kept walking. I'm not sure what the factory used to make but it reminded me of the other factory I'd been in: the one where I killed Lust and where Ed sent Sloth mommy back to the gate. I started wondering if this was really such a great idea. Sister didn't like the factory either- she was real tense and squeezing my hand.

I knew for sure that it was a mistake when I realized the factory wasn't as abandoned as I thought. Someone else had been staying there. I noticed the remains of meals on the ground and a few blankets over by one wall. Sister saw them too. "Let's go," I said since she was being the silent one.

"So soon," came a male voice. I turned and saw a group of boys a few years older that Sister standing in the doorway. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as a realized that we had just walked right into this gang's hideout.

"I'm sorry," said Sister. She had gotten her voice back and it seemed strong but I could detect the slightest quiver underneath. "We didn't mean to intrude," she continued reasonably. "We didn't realize that this was your territory. We'll just go now."

"You don't have to do that," said the tallest boy walking over to her. His voice came out real smooth, the words just slid easily from his tongue. "You can stay if you like." I didn't like the way he was looking at Sister. I noticed that the most of the boys were still standing in the doorway blocking it. A few boys had appeared in the door on the other side of room we were in. They had blocked all the exits.

"No," said Sister firmly. "We really should go; mother is going to worry if we're not home soon." She was squeezing my hand so hard it hurt a little.

"She must be very worried," he said with fake concern. "You been gone for weeks at least." Sister must have forgotten or hoped that he wouldn't notice that it pretty clear from looking at us that we'd been living on the streets. "You don't have to stay on those cold, hard streets. You can stay here with us- be our guests."

"I really must go," Sister tried again. Her voice was slipping. I knew I should have done something. I shouldn't have let them scare Sister. But there were so many of them, a fight would get messy and I didn't want show Sister my monster again. I was a homunculus so they couldn't stop me but I wouldn't fight unless they made me. Nothing really bad had happened yet.

"What kind of gentleman would let a lady and child go back on the street? I insist you stay."

Sister saw that she wasn't going to win this. "Ok-ay," she said finally. "For a little while at least."

* * *

I finally update and then I leave you with a cliffhanger- I guess I'm just not very nice. I actually write my chapters far in advance (for a number of reasons). I finish a chapter then post one I finished months ago. I had just finished this chapter when I started posting the Rush Valley part 1 and it felt like I would never actually get to posting this one. I'm not sure how long it's going take till I update again but I have the remaining of the chapters plotted out in my head so I'm nearing the home stretch. 


	8. The Factory Pt 2

Holy Crap I updated! I know it's been a looong time since I last updated but though this story might have spent some time on the back burner I always planned to finish it. There are multitudes of reason for the nearly two-year gap in updates. I won't go into them other than to say it was mainly a combination of laziniess, busyness and major writers block. When I finally got over my writers block it was by writing in another category. But I made I promise that I wouldn't upload any stories to until I updated this story. And just to make sure that I could finish this story I waited to upload until I had written a rough draft for the rest of the chapters. So not only have I finally updated but I can promise that this story will be finished. So without further ado on with the story.

* * *

The leader of the gang's name was Trent and at first he was really nice to us. He and his gang had been out getting food which they were nice enough to share. Sister let go of my hand to eat a piece of chicken with two hands.

Trent talked to us or rather to Sister- he mostly ignored me. He told her that he'd run away from his home over three years ago. He told her some of his adventures on the street. His stories were funny and he made her laugh. I noticed her slowly relax.

One of the members of his gang noticed my automail. I guess they had never met anyone with automail before. They all wanted to see it. I stood up and showed them. They asked a million stupid questions to like, "did it hurt?"

I was telling them that 'yes, it hurt' when suddenly Sister cried out, "No, stop." I looked over to where Trent and Sister were seated. He was trying to kiss her and she was trying to fight him off.

All of my rage came pouring back into me. "LET HER GO," I yelled at Trent. Some of the boys tried to hold me back but I was stronger than they were expecting. I got free from them and launched myself at Trent. I punched him as hard as I could with my non-automail hand. (I didn't want to break the automail) The force of my punch sent him flying back.

I turned to sister. She was still as a stone. "We have to go," I told her yanking on her arm.

Her eyes which were already huge widened even more, "LOOK OUT!" she yelled. She was too late. One of the boys had snuck up behind me and grabbed me. Before I could get free another boy stabbed me in the gut with a dagger.

"Stupid kid," he told me as he stabbed me again and again, "Nobody hits the boss." My wounds were healing but they couldn't heal fast enough. I was losing the red stone-blood. Finally the guy holding me loosened his grip thinking I was dying. I managed to get enough energy to throw him over me and into the guy with the dagger. They collided and I think dagger guy accidentally stabbed the other guy.

I crawled away. Most of the rest of the gang was standing stunned just watching and not interfering, but Trent came over to me. The side of Trent's face was all purple when I looked up at him. He put his foot on my back and pushed me to the floor. What he didn't know though, was that by this time my wounds had healed.

I played dead-lying still and waiting for him to let his guard down. He kicked my sides for a bit. "Not so tough now," he taunted. "Damn brat." He'd made the mistake of turning his back to me. I grabbed his ankles with my hands and pulled him down. I scampered to my feet. Of course by that time the rest on the gang was on their way over and most of them were armed.

Them battle was messy just like I knew it would me. I can't give you exact details it was too quick and frantic. They were armed and I wasn't but I quickly fixed that by taking one guy's pole. There were more them then of me but my wounds healed, theirs didn't. So I just kept beating them down. Eventually one of the smarter guys realized my wounds kept healing, "He can't be killed, the kid's some kind of freak!" he cried.

"That's right," I told him enjoying his fear. "I can't be killed, so you can't stop me." It was probably shortly after this that they all decided to run away.

In the end it was just Sister, Trent, and me left in the cursed factory. Trent had tried to run but I didn't let him get away. "YOU HURT MY FAMILY." I screamed as I punched him over and over again. Finally I realized he wasn't responding. I checked his heart. He was still alive just unconscious. I'd beat him up pretty bad. I don't know if he was okay afterward or not- I never bothered to find out.

Sister hadn't moved during the whole fight. She was still sitting on the same crate she'd been sitting on since Trent invited her to share his food. I went over to her. "We should leave." I told her. "They might come back." She stared at me. "Come on," I tried again, "we really have to go." She still wasn't moving so I picked her up. I carried her out of the stupid factory and straight out of town.

After I had been walking down the road for a little while, she said in a real quietly "Put me down. I can walk." We walked in silence the whole rest of day. When it started getting dark I found a nice place for us to spend the night. "We can stay here," I said. "See it's out in the open with no roof over your head."

"Wrath," sister whispered. She sat down and I noticed her eyes were gleaming with tears. She wiped them away with her hand but more soon followed. "Oh, Wrath" she said looking up at me with tear filled eyes. I think she tried to stop her crying afraid the noise would drive me away. Her crying didn't bother me though- babies and real little kids sound different when they cry- and it's their screaming cry that bothers me. Her tears didn't stop she kept crying more and more until she was sobbing.

I didn't know what to do. I wanted to comfort her. I hugged her- like Sloth mommy had hugged me. I don't know if she was even crying about what Trent had done or something else. I heard her call out for her mom and dad. I also heard her say other names and say she was sorry. She said my name too. I didn't know what to so I just hugged and told her, "It's okay," just like she told me when I was remembering stuff. "It's okay" I told her, even though I didn't really know if it was okay or not. "It's okay," I said and tried to believe that it would be okay.

Once again I had shown sister my monster. And again it did not ruin our relationship like I feared it would. Another thing had happened to- I'd announced I wasn't human. I know that when sister first met me she assumed I was human because it's the normal thing. But after traveling with me for months I think she had to realize I was sort of different. She never said anything, but I think she had figured. I'd never said anything either. Not until I'd boasted about it to the gang, because while being a homunculus has many bad sides, it does help in fights. Sister never spoke about anything that happened that day. She should have heard my boasts, but she was acting so strange that, I don't know if her brain really processed what happened that day. I think she might have been pretending it didn't happen, just like I pretended that _that woman_ had no relation to me. Still sister had to know I was some sort of freak but we never spoke about it. By the time sister found out I was a freak she'd let me in too close. I was her brother now and I stayed that way human or not.


	9. Central

I never again suggested sleeping inside to Sister. Instead we traveled far south and spent the winter months in the towns down that way (except Dublith) where it wasn't as cold. It's funny but I almost think whatever it was that happened in that factory was a good thing for Sister. I mean it wasn't good that it happened but something good came out of it. I guess now that I think about it, it was an equivalent exchange. She had to go through something bad but she got something for it. While Sister had always been the talkative one telling me all sorts of stuff, there was some stuff about her life before she met me that she'd kept secret. For example, aside from the time she told me her parents were farmers in exchange for me telling her about that lady, she'd never mentioned her parents to me. But after whatever happened in that factory, she started mentioning her parents. Not very often, just every once and a while she'd tell me something about them.

One day after it had been getting warmer, we were walking along the road heading off to a new town (Sister had nearly gotten caught stealing so we had to change towns) when I suddenly announced, "I want to go to Central."

"Central?" asked Sister, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We don't have to stay but there is something- there is something I have to see." I'd been thinking a lot about it lately, I come to the decision that I had to go see what was left of that underground city. More specifically I had to know if Master or Gluttony were still alive. I didn't think Master had survived but I wasn't so sure what had ever happened to Gluttony.

Sister was kind of nervous during our trip North to Central, but at the same time I knew she was really curious about my past. She'd learned not to ask me about it but she couldn't hide her curiosity anytime anything related to my past came up. I didn't have the same curiosity about her past. Between how she acted, the stories she was opening up and sharing with me, and her sometimes talking in her sleep I'd figured out some of her past. I think her family was normal and her parents really loved and carried for her, but I think they're dead now. I think they died before she left.

While she thought about what from my past might lie in Central, I thought about the future: what I might find in Central. If Master was still alive and not too weak from dying what would I do. She would want me to serve her again. Would she force me to serve her again, even though I now knew she could not give me what I wanted? I wasn't sure anymore what I wanted. Did I still want to be human? Did I want to die like what Lust wanted? I still couldn't figure it out. Right now it was enough to wander the world with my Sister. I was afraid master would likely take sister away. I knew it was dumb of me to go back to Central. I should have stayed far away. But like Sister's curiosity about my past, I had a burning curiosity that I couldn't ignore.

The other thing that occupied my mind was how I was going to get into the underground city. I knew about two entrances: one from a special elevator in the Fuhrer's mansion and one from a staircase in an old abandoned church. The one in the church had been alchemically sealed by the Trigham brothers after Rose had carried me up the stairs. The older brother had said that if Ed needed to get out he'd be able unseal it with his alchemy. But Ed never returned. So I decided I'd have to sneak into the Fuhur's mansion and use the elevator. It was easier that way. Sister is not as strong or flexible as me and she would get caught if she tried to sneak into a place like that. I could convince her to stay behind and then if Master or Gluttony were down there she would be away from them and safe.

Because I'd spent so much time in Central I was expecting it to be familiar. But, even when I lived with Sloth mommy I'd never actually explored very much of the city. So when we reached the outside of the city it stuck me how foreign it was. Sister was excited. She'd never been before and she wanted to find out about my past. It didn't take long for me to discover the old Fuhrer's mansion had burned down.

Sister and I had walked all the way to Central, so we decided to stay awhile. We spent our days exploring every corner of the large city we could. One day we ran into the Trigham brothers on one of our walks. They could unseal the entrance for me with alchemy. I waited till the younger brother and Sister were distracted then I told the older brother, Russell, that I wanted to get into the underground city. He didn't think I should go down there, but eventually I convinced him by telling him I'd see if I could figure out what happed to Edward. (I already had a good idea what had happened, but I didn't tell Russell that.)

I convinced Sister and Russell convinced his younger brother to stay behind so it was just Russell and me in the church. "Look Wrath," he started, "I know I don't know you very well but I'm going to tell you what I told Ed." I stared at his hands- he had them jammed in his pockets. I didn't want to hear what he was going to say. "I told him to come back, to just come back alive." Russell paused. I kept starring at his hands. "That what I told him, but he never came back." Russel took his hands out of his pockets and gestured with them. "I don't know exactly what happened to him but I'm going to have to assume that there is something dangerous down there. If that is the case- I can't let out. So I'm going to tell you come back alive and do so in less than three hours because after that I will have no choice but to seal the entrance. Do you understand?"

I nodded. He was right there might very well be something dangerous down there. Three hours should be enough time. Russell drew a circle and activated it. A crude entrance tunnel formed leading to the steps. "Be careful," Russell told me as I descended the staircase.

At first view the underground city appeared unchanged. It was sort of reassuring to see that nothing had changed. "Anybody here?" I called hoping beyond hope that nobody would call back. Please I pleaded let them be gone. Let my past stay buried here beneath the city. But although no one called back I got an answer of sorts. I heard a noise from behind me, heavy breathing. I whirled around to find...Gluttony?

He looked different than when I'd last seen him but it was still Gluttony- there was no one else it could have been. He was wider too, he'd have trouble fitting through doors. His mouth was open and he was slobbering with hunger. He had the same mad look in his eyes as when I'd last seen him. Was there hatred in his eyes at me for killing Lust or after whatever Master had done did he even remember her? Was there nothing but hunger in those eyes? Either way wasn't so good for me. I took a step back. "What happened to Master?" I asked him.

He didn't answer with back with any words I could understand. His breathing got a little heavier. He made a funny noise that sounded almost like "heh heh heh." Gluttony charged me. I did a one handed cartwheel out of the way. I'd barely regained my balance when he came at me again. He moved pretty fast for something his size. He was faster than I realized and I failed to get away in time. He knocked me with his giant belly and I flew into a wall. He came at me again, full charge with his mouth open. I pushed myself out of the way between his feet. There was barely enough room for me to slide through. He was making funny noises. I could have sworn I heard him going "kill" but it could have just been in my head. I'd gotten my answers or at least as of much of them as I was going to get. Master had to be gone. There was no way Master would have let Gluttony go on like this. I don't think even she could control him anymore.

Gluttony had hit the wall when I dodged. It came down on him and left him dazed and for a moment. I used the change to try and come up with a plan to get away from him and back to the surface. I couldn't risk leading him that way. If only I could still perform alchemy. How else could you stop a homunculus? Watching Gluttony emerge from the wrecked wall gave me an idea. Maybe I could get Gluttony to bring down one of the really large buildings on himself. If the wreckage was really heavy it would take him some time to work or eat his way out from under it- long enough for me to make it back to the surface and have Russell seal the entrance.

I took off around the city looking for a good building. Gluttony was right behind me. Luckily I found a large building made out of stone. It would take some work to get the walls down but it would be worth it. It was a dangerous job, I had to run from wall to wall staying at each one long enough to ensure Gluttony hit them full force. I had a bunch of close calls. After a few hits I'd weakened the building to where I figured all it would take is one more hit to the left wall to bring it down. I ran toward the window as fast as I could and leapt through. Gluttony couldn't fit through but his mouth could. He stuck his mouth through after me and bit off the lower half of my automail leg. I screamed in pain as somehow losing part of the wires caused what was left to shock me where they attached to my skin. Gluttony got shocked too.

My plan had worked. While he was biting off my leg, the building collapsed around him. His mouth disappeared into the wreckage. All that I could see was his tongue sticking out at the end. I had no idea how long it would take him to make his way out. I couldn't waste any time in getting back to the surface. I couldn't walk or run normally with part of my leg missing, but lucky for me I'm a good acrobat. For awhile I made my way by flipping or cartwheeling, alternating landing on my whole leg and then one of my hands. Once I got too dizzy I resorted to crawling. I crawled up the whole staircase wishing the elevator still worked.

"Wrath!" Russell was a little surprised to see me crawling. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," I told him emerging from the tunnel on my hands and knees. "Seal it- hurry!" He did as I told him. "There's something dangerous in there. Don't ever go down there."

He nodded. "And Edward?"

"He isn't down there. I didn't see any sign of what happened to him."

"I added some extra stone to the seal. That should hold it." Russell turned to face me, "What the...?" he exclaimed as he got a good look at me. "Shit Wrath, what the hell happened down there?" I shrugged. He sighed, "If you don't want to tell me fine. As long as it stays down there. Come on kid, I can't alchemize fully functioning automail but I can give you a stand in till you can get that thing fixed." He helped me up. I put my arm around his shoulder and he helped me walk out of the old church. We made our way outside where, although we didn't know it at the time, his younger brother and Sister were waiting for us. I'll never forget the look in Sister's eyes when she first saw me or the scolding that followed either.

* * *

This was not an easy chapter to write. Action and fight scenes are not my forte. It is however, an important chapter to the plot.

Gluttony's appearance is supposed to be somewhere between his appearance in the series and the mutated form he has in the movie.

No matter how many time I read through this chapter and proofread it I keep noticing lots of mistakes. I've done my best but if any of you notice any glaring typos or grammar errors please mention them in a review so I can correct them when I upload the next chapter. Thanks.


	10. Automail

To say that Sister was angry with me about what happened would be true but not really saying enough, what was that word Sister used? Understatement, that's it. It would be an understatement. She was more like **really really** angry. The funny thing was when I realized that she was angry at me because I'd been in danger. If something had happened to me she would be very sad. I realized then for the first time that maybe she needed me just like I needed her. It was equivalent of course- I'm sort of surprised hadn't figured that out before.

During Sister's whole long lecture I only sort of listened. She was right, it was foolish of me to put myself in so much danger, but I had to know. I told her this when she finally stopped yelling at me. I could tell it wasn't what she wanted to hear, but she just sighed and said "At least it's over."

"Yes," I told her "It's over now." It really was too, after meeting Gluttony I didn't want to see what else was left from my past before I met Sister.

"I guess we should go see your friend Winry about fixing your automail." She didn't sound happy about this.

I wasn't happy about it either. I didn't really want to see Winry again. "I guess. I can't pay anyone else for it. She'll chew me out but she'll do it for free."

So the two of us set off once more for Rush Valley. Luckily Rush Valley isn't too far from Central. We couldn't remember exactly where the shop Winry had been in was. I remembered it was down an alley but there were a bunch of alleys in Rush Valley.

"Hey! Hey, that's you! You down there. You're Winry's friend." I followed the sound of the voice up to a nearby roof. The girl that had been in the shop last time I visited was crouched on it.

"You're, ah, Paniya right?" I called back glad I remembered her name.

"Yup." She jumped right off the roof landing in the street by us. "And you're…Wrath." I nodded. "Whose your friend?" She meant Sister. Sister hadn't disappeared this time. She was standing a little behind me, like she was still hiding but this time close to me. She was even holding my hand.

"She's Jessica," I couldn't decide if I should introduce her as Sister or not. Because she was my Sister but not really we just sort of pretended she was. And me calling her Sister or her being my Sister was, at least to me, like a thing just between the two the us, something which had nothing to do with Paniya. This is the way I would have thought it out if I had time to think it out. But I didn't really so I just called her Jessica and went with it like that.

"Hi Jessica," said Paniya peering around me.

Jessica seemed to realize she was acting silly because she came out from behind me and said, "Hi" back.

For a moment there was awkward silence. "You here to see Winry or just passing through?" Paniya finally asked.

"I need to see Winry" I admitted.

Paniya frowned. "I wish you'd called ahead. Winry isn't here. She went back to Resembool." She gave me a searching look. Then I think she found what she was looking for. Paniya smiled. "I know that look- that half sheepish look- you broke your automail didn't you?" I nodded and lifted up my pant leg to so she could see my stand-in. "I knew it. I've been in your situation enough. Like I said Winry went back to her home. If you want you can have Dominick take a look at it."

I thought about it for a moment. "No, Winry will want to fix it." I guess this meant I had to go face Resembool.

"Oh," I think Paniya looked a little disappointed. "It's getting kind of late, if you want I don't think Dominick would mind you spending the night. You can take a train in the mourning."

Ug, not that old man and his stares again. Plus I already sort of owed him from last time I stayed in his house. I didn't want to owe more, I have no way my settle my debt. "No," I told her, "We have to go." It was too late to leave town though. So instead of spending the night sleeping in soft beds Sister and I spent the night on the ground. But it was warm and dry outside and I think we both liked it better that way.

I really didn't want to go to Resembool. I'm not sure why- but I know I didn't want to. Every time I thought about it my insides felt all queasy and I wanted to turn around. Maybe I was scared that the woman might be there. She's why I left in the first place. I almost chickened out a lot. I almost decided I was fine with a stand in I could sort of walk with carefully.

Sister kept me from leaving though. First she made me promise her there was nothing dangerous in Resembool just people I didn't want to see. Then she told me I had to get my automail repaired. She made me keep putting one foot in front of the other. She complained that I was going too slow and forced me along.

At last we reached the town. We stood by the train station."This it? This is the big scary Resembool I had to practically push you toward."

I looked around and tried to see it through a stranger's eyes. All I could see was farmland with houses in the distance. It looked like- nothing. "Come on," I told her to change the subject. "The Rockbelle's are this way."

I was about to knock on the door when I noticed Sister was still behind me. "You're not going to hide."

"No, last time I let you out of my sight you came back with half a leg." I had a feeling I was stuck with her on my back for a long time. I shrugged and turned to knock. Before I got a chance the door opened.

"Wrath!" Winry exclaimed. "What are you doing here? You wrecked your automail again didn't you?" I sheepishly lifted up my pant leg exposing my missing leg parts. Winry's reaction involved a scream that hurt my ears. She grabbed my leg forgetting it was still attached to me. I lost my balance and toppled over. "What did you do?" she demanded.

"I broke it," was all I could think to say.

"You broke it?" she was going to go on I think but she noticed Sister for the first time. "Who's your friend?" She asked.

"Huh, oh that's- "

"I'm Jessica" Sister announced. "I'm his friend." She almost sounded like she was trying to claim me.

Winry smiled, "I'm Winry Rockbelle, his mechanic. Why don't you two come in? You can make yourself comfortable while I run diagnostics."

I looked at Sister who shrugged. "Okay," I answered for us. No sense in coming all this way and not getting my leg repaired. We followed Winry into the house.

* * *

Eh, didn't realize how much of this chapter was filler- not much happened except Wrath finally deciding to face Resembool. We're nearing the home stretch- just a few chapters left.


	11. Resembool

Winry had to build a new leg from scratch. So she told us it would take several days. As much as I didn't want to go to Resembool, I wanted even more not to stick around. But I didn't have any choice. I needed automail and Winry said it would take time. She was doing it for free so it's not like I could make her rush it. Winry's Granny let Sister and me stay at her house. Actually she made us stay there. I would have been more comfortable staying outside like we usually did. I couldn't fool them though. They knew we didn't have anywhere to stay. They knew who I really was so they knew that I didn't know anyone else in Resembool. And Resembool was such a small town that we couldn't fool them into thinking Sister knew someone either.

It was weird at first. The Rockbelle's knew I was homunculus but they didn't know if Sister knew so they were real careful about what they said. Sister wasn't sure about how I knew the Rockbelle's and I think that made her nervous. So it was really odd to have both Winry and Sister in the same room. At least Alphonse wasn't there. He would have made things even harder. Granny Pinako (she told me to call her that but it felt wrong because she wasn't my Granny) helped some. She treated me the same way she treated me last time after Rose had rescued me. She gave me my space, letting me keep to myself while at the same time making sure I took care of myself.

One day, I don't know where Sister was but I was poking around the Rockbelle's living room. They had a bunch of albums and pictures. I was bored so I started poking through them. I don't know why. There were whole bunches of pictures of people I didn't know. I liked looking at those. People watching had become a hobby of Sister's and mine and looking at photos was kind of similar. I also found pictures of Granny Pinako when she was younger and pictures of her sons.

There were pictures of that man, Hohenmiem of Light, the one Master was so obsessed with. I tried to flip quickly past those but now I was in the part of the book that was getting me in trouble. I found pictures of Winry's parents. Next to them there was a picture with Hohenmeim and his wife, the Elric brothers' mother: her. I was going to flip by her quickly but then I studied her picture for a while. She looked just like Sloth mommy, but at the same time not- there was something in her expression that Sloth mommy never had. She was a real mommy something Sloth mommy wasn't and could never be. I had clung to Sloth mommy and she had let me, even cared for me a little but now I was able to recognize she hadn't cared enough. I wondered how things would have been different if Trisha Elric had been my mommy. They would have been better but I suppose I have to learn I can't change how things are. At least I had sister, she cared for me in ways Sloth mommy never had.

I was looking at the next picture, one of two proud little boys I recognized grinning at the camera without a care in the world, when Winry came in the room. "Your automail is going to take a little longer, I need to wait for a part to come," she told me tiredly. She flopped down next to me on the sofa. "What are you looking at? Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw the picture. I didn't say anything. I didn't try to hide the book from her, she'd already seen so what would be the point? Gently she took the photo album off my lap. Winry stared at the picture for a while. I sort of wanted to get up and leave, but it would have been wrong to just leave her so upset. I had made the mess by snooping so I guess I had to deal with the consequences, equivalent exchange again.

After a lot of silence Winry sighed and said, "That stupid boy, I miss him so much. I was always chewing him out for being too reckless. I keep wishing he'd listened to us back then, but I guess he just wouldn't be Ed if he had."

We sat in more silence. I didn't know what to say but I don't think Winry needed me to say anything. "Do you have any idea what happened to him?" she asked me suddenly.

"I don't know." I thought about it. "He must have opened the gate to get his brother back. He may be at the gate or maybe he went through it again." I shivered. I didn't like thinking about the gate. It made me think of being stuck inside. If that was what happened to Ed, no I can't think about that.

"On the other side?" Winry sounded thoughtful. "What's on the other side."

"I don't know. Another world I guess."

"So he's another world's problem now." Winry smiled thinking about something. Suddenly she slammed the album shut. "Enough thinking about the past. What was Ed's motto: move forward?" She stood up and stretched. She glanced back at me and said, "Al's writes to me. He's off training with his teacher. He's asked about you. He wants to know how your doing."

I played with my hands. "Tell him I'm doing fine."

Winry put the album away. "Are you?" She gave me a hard look. "You look like you've had some pretty rough times."

I shrugged. "We get by." I thought about it for a moment. "I'm doing okay." I told her with more confidence that I was right.

"Wrath," Winry said softly. "When he asks how you're doing, he wants to know for himself but also he's asking because she wants to know." I didn't ask who 'she' was I knew whom Winry was talking about. "She worries about you." Winry continued. There was a time when just thinking about her was enough to make me run away. But I've learned that even when I run I can't escape thinking about her. So I made myself stay. I think Winry took that I wasn't running away as a good sign cause she slowly continued, "She wants to see you."

"NO!" I yelled. I calmed myself down and said, "I can't see her. I don't want to."

Winry sighed. "Think about it, Wrath. Give it some time. Promise me someday you'll at least try to reconcile with her."

I didn't want to. I still don't want to face her and I didn't need her. I had sister. I had someone who cared for me. Who never abandoned me at the gate. I squeezed my eyes closed to try and force the images from my mind. I looked down at my toes. "I'll try." I finally mumbled. I guess I owed Winry that much for all she's done for me.

"Just try," Winry repeated gently. She got up and left the room. Staying inside was too much. I had to get away. I couldn't run very well with the spare but I made my way outside as fast as I could.

Once I made it outside I wandered around for a while just walking around. Between the various fields ran small footpaths. I took these not caring or knowing where they went. I found sister standing by a burned out wreck of house.

"Oh, hey," she called when she saw me. I made my way over to her. "This house burned down didn't it." she asked me quietly.

"Yeah."

"I hope everyone made it out okay." Her voice shook a little.

I recognized the house and although I knew no one lived there when it was burned down. I didn't want to explain the story to Sister so I just said, "They did."

"That's good. Not everyone is so lucky you know." We stood there quite for a moment. I don't know what she was thinking of but I was still trying not to think of my other mother. When sister spoke again her voice was different- cheery. "See Resembool's not so bad, want to stay here awhile?"

I thought about it seriously for a minute. "Resembool is okay but it's not my home. I don't know where my home is. I'm guess I'm still looking for it." Sister watched me and nodded. I suddenly thought of something to add, "The Rockbelle's are nice too but they're not my family. I don't belong with them."

"Am I your family?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't you be?" I quickly told her. Sister was my family more so than anyone else in the world.

Sister gave me a wide smile. "Come on little brother, let's go back. I think it's almost dinnertime."

As we walked back she asked me, "So where to next?"

"I don't know. It's getting to be summer now, feel like seeing what the north is like?"


	12. Sickness

We left Resembool and spent the summer in the north. I thought about what Winry said and going to Dublith to face that woman. Eventually I got my courage up and told Sister I wanted to go to Dublith. "There is someone I have to see," I told her. She made me promise that it wouldn't be dangerous, that the woman wouldn't hurt me. I promised her and it was true, I don't think she'd hurt at least not in the out right way.

I didn't make it. We turned around halfway there. "I can't face her," I told Sister.

"Someday you will," she replied with more confidence than I felt. She was quiet for a moment than said, "Sloth Mommy you lived before wasn't your real mother right? She's your real mother isn't she, the lady in Dublith?" I couldn't bring myself to say yes so I nodded. Sister didn't push me. She let me turn around. We went west instead.

I was as happy as I could be I think. I might have had everything so of course something was bound to be taken from me. I dreaded it coming but I couldn't stop it. And then Sister got sick. She'd been sick on and off for a couple of months but this time she wasn't getting better. I had to do something for her so I decided to buy medicine even thought I didn't have any money.

I fidgeted as I stood in line at the pharmacist's. I was scared of getting to the front of the line because I really wanted medicine but I didn't have a way to pay for it. I didn't have a plan. I'd thought about just grabbing it and running. I'd also thought about stealing money to buy it with. But I didn't like either choice because of the stealing. I was afraid of stealing. I was afraid of taking without giving things; it was not equivalent. I'd admit that I did it sometimes when traveling with Sister but it always made me feel sick. And this was important, so I was afraid of what I might have to give up if I stole something worth so much.

I wiggled my toes and tried to figure out how I could get help if I couldn't pay for it. We needed it though, this was not something I could chicken out of. The small store was really busy. At last there was only one person in front of me. I was close enough now to hear what the man behind the counter was saying. "Is Clarence still sick?" he asked the lady in front of me.

"Yes, his cough is getting worse and now he has these horrible chills." she answered.

"Fevers?"

"His fever broke this morning but I fear it may get worse again."

"Mmm," he was doing something behind the counter, making medicine I think. He gave her some medicine and instructions on giving it to her son. I was trying to listen to every word. Sister had been coughing for days and she'd been shivering last night. As the woman took the medicine he asked her. "And your other two how are they doing?"

The woman sighed, "Alita is doing fine but Imogene had begun to cough also."

"Do you have any relatives who live in other towns? You may want to consider sending Alita away while she is still healthy. There is talk of quarantining the whole town to stop the spread of the coughing sickness. Here you are. This should help with Clarence's fever." He handed her something else and she turned to leave. "Next." It was my turn.

"Um, my sister's sick. She's been coughing a lot and now she's feels kind of hot."

He looked straight at me. "Where is you mother?" he asked me.

I had a flash of inspiration "She's sick too." I lied.

"Same thing?" he asked.

For some reason I thought of _her_ and way that she was sick. "No, she's got something else."

He sighed. "Have you heard of the coughing sickness?"

"You were talking about it with the lady in front of me."

"The coughing sickness has been spreading throughout this town. It sounds like you sister has picked it up. It starts with a cough that persists for days. For some this is as far as it goes. But roughly half go on to develop a high fever. This fever can be very dangerous especially for those with weaker systems. Tell me, was your sister healthy before she started coughing?"

I wasn't sure what he meant by "healthy" but I thought about it. "She wasn't sick before she started coughing, but I don't know, some days she seems kinda tired and she's had coughs before. "

He frowned. "It sounds like your sister's immune system is already kind of taxed." He gave me a serious look. "Make sure she gets lots of rest and takes it very easy. You will have to take care of her if your mother isn't able to. But take care to wash well and keep yourself from getting sick." He handed me a small bag, "This should help with the fevers. If she can make it through the next few days and fight off the fever her cough might linger but she will be out of danger."

I wanted to grab the medicine and run so badly but instead I forced myself to say "I can't pay for that."

He pushed the bag toward me. "I figured, but your sister needs this medicine. Take it. Consider it a gift for a brave boy who is taking care of his sister." Right after he said "take it" I'd grabbed it off the counter. It wasn't till I was out the door that the rest of what he said occurred to me, I must have been what he meant when he said a "brave boy." I didn't feel like a brave boy and I didn't feel like I deserved it. But sister had needed it so I took it.

I tried my very best to do what the pharmacist told me. I gave sister the medicine and tried to keep her from moving which wasn't hard because she didn't have much energy. The medicine helped at first. Sister said it brought her fever down. But it came back up. By the middle of the day sister's fever had gotten worse. I remembered what the pharmacist had said about how if she made it through the next few days she'd be okay. I wished as hard as I could that she'd survive.

As they day grew on she grew weaker and slept a lot. I was watching her sleep when suddenly her eyes shot open and she coughed and coughed. She tried for awhile to speak but kept coughing instead. "W...Wrath," she finally managed to get out.

"I'm here," I told her hurrying to her side.

"Are..you...c..can y...you...get...sick?" She asked.

Sister was talking about the fact I was different from her. This was something we both knew but she pretended it wasn't true. "I don't know." I told her, "I don't think so. I think if you were going to make me sick, I'd be sick by now."

"G...good." She smiled at me. "I'm...glad...I...want...you...to...stay...with....me."

"I won't ever leave you." I promised her.

She shook her head. She tried to speak but coughed instead. I gave her some water and when she spoke again it was a little easier. "I'm going soon," she told me.

"Don't leave me!" I pleaded before I could stop myself.

"I have to." She whispered. "They're waiting for me. My family- I'm going to see them soon." She smiled at the thought.

"I'm your family!" I insisted.

"You've been the best brother I could ask for. But they're calling for me. It's time." I wanted to scream or plead with her but I knew it would make no difference and I couldn't stop her from going. She held my hand. "The woman in Dublith, your mother, I know she hurt you but did she love you?"

It was a funny question and I didn't want to think about her, not with Sister dying. But it was important to Sister so I thought about it. I thought about the way she treated me before I knew who I was. I nodded slowly. "I knew it," Sister's voice was soft and fading. "You should go to her. I'm sure she misses you. I sorry I can't stay with you, but my own family, I'm going to be with them again." Sister closed her eyes. I held her hand till it grew cold. I sat there for hours. I'd known or at least feared that I was going to lose her but I still wasn't ready for it when it happened.

I left her body at a church, cause I figured they'd bury her. Then I left town alone.

* * *

Poor Wrath, he's alone again. I don't know if I should apologize for killing off Jessica (Sister). I don't know if any of you got attached to her, or if you feel bad for Wrath. I will say in my own defense, I always planned for her to die. For one, this story takes place between the ending of the first anime and the movie and when we meet Wrath in the movie, he's alone. Also Jessica was created to be someone for Wrath to interact with, someone to teach him things and to impact his life. Tragic though it is, her death has an impact and in terms of storytelling serves a purpose. This was the last chapter, but there is an epilogue I will post once I finish polishing and proofreading, probably in a week or so depending on how much studying I have to do.


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

I traveled by myself for awhile. But I was so miserable and alone. I remembered back, when I first started traveling with Sister thinking that if I clung to her too hard, I'd lose her. I knew it was happening at the time, I feared becoming too dependent on another person, and yet I still fell into that trap. But I was so happy with sister that maybe I wouldn't trade it for anything even knowing what was going to happen. I guess that's part of life, being happy even though you know you're going to lose what you have someday. But how do you go on after you've lost it?

Sister had taught me about family. She'd shown me how wonderful it could be to belong, to have someone you care about who cares about you the same way. I missed Sister fiercely and I missed having a family. But I did have a family, sort of. I had my real family: my real mother. I thought about what Sister said about how I should go back to her. For awhile I didn't think I could face her. I put it off. But I was so lonely with Sister gone. All I could think about was the family I've known: Sister the way she cared for me and taught me stuff, Sloth mommy how she cared for me and not cared me at the same time, and real mommy. Sister's words kept echoing in my head. Finally, I had enough. I headed back to Dublith.

I don't honestly know what I was going to do when I saw her. I think that's all I wanted: to see her, to decide if I could ever accept her. I was too late; she died before I got the chance. She went back to the gate. In some way, it was too much. I thought I'd have this family waiting for me, even if I couldn't accept it. And what's worse, I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out but when I saw her grave somehow I just knew. I knew that she had loved me, that she was my mother and she wanted her son back. But now she too was gone. All of the family I've ever had (including my true family) was dead, gone back to gate.

I don't know what I wanted at that point. Nothing was left for me in this world. I was nearby her grave, just sitting there unsure what to do next when Winry saw me. As she has always done she offered to fix my automail. After Sister died, I'd stopped taking good care of it. She took me back to Resembool. That was where I saw Alphonse. He looked so much like Ed. He too was seeking family. I overheard enough to figure out what he was planning. And then I knew, suddenly I knew the answer to what I've been seeking, I knew what I had I to do. Now, I have a plan.

I am homunculus-an imperfect lifeform. A being brought to life that is not what the creator wanted. I was ripped from the gate when I never should have left. And now I know how to fix things. I know how to even the scale. I must return to the gate. Sister went back to the gate and joined her true family and I will do the same.

But I will do more than just return to gate. I will give myself in a sacrifice to open the gate. I can do this; I can lure Gluttony even though it will cost my imperfect life. Alphonse is like me, he is seeking family. His lies not in the gate but on the other side. If he gives himself in a sacrifice then his brother will not be able to see him. I won't let that happen. Families should be together. This how I will even the scale, this how I will obtain equivalence for all things I've taken and not paid for. Now I will pay for them, I will give the ultimate price, and once I've done that I will be reunited with mommy, true mommy.

I haven't told Alphonse what I'm planning because I know he will object. I will tell him at a time when he can't object. I have a purpose now, a reason for living and a reason for dying. I am seeking family again, something I have done all my life without even realizing it. But now I know what I am doing and I know that once I finally find my true family I will never lose her again. One final equivalent exchange and then I will be happy and complete.

* * *

AN: The end.

A big thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this story. Seeing a new review always makes my day. I tend to be a bit of an internet hermit (I'm not very sociable) but I always read reviews and try to take them into consideration. Thank you for putting up with my delayed updates and two year hiatus. Personally I like reading author's notes and gaining a little insight into what the author was thinking, so I've included a few random story notes just in case you're interested.

After I wrote the very first chapter, which I just wrote as a writing exercise in the form of an attempt to get inside Wrath's head, I thought about the character I'd created, Jessica, giving her a history- a reason for acting the way she did. I think next I decided she'd travel with Wrath for a few years and then die. And then thought about movie Wrath and wondered if I could create an explanation for his behavior. I love movie Wrath in fact Wrath is one of the few things I liked about the movie. (Don't get me started on what I didn't like.) I especially liked that they visually showed which mommy Wrath wanted to be reunited with because the first time I watched I wasn't sure if he was talking about Sloth or Izumi. Wrath and Izumi are some of my favorite characters and I love how they are reunited in the movie but I don't know if I can entirely believe it. I mean Wrath is so traumatized by what happened he can't even think about Izumi in the series. On the other hand two years have passed before the movie and in that amount of time people (even homunculi) can change. That became my challenge to see if I can convincingly write about how Wrath changed his views on Izumi to where he'd die to be with her. And that was really the driving point of the whole story. (Although I did throw in a few light hearted not necessarily plot related things, just to for fun and to explore the relationship between and travels of Jessica and Wrath) I'm not sure if I accomplished my goal or not, so I leave that up to you reviewer.

A little more about Jessica and an explanation of some of her actions in case you're curious. Jessica was the daughter of farmers whom lived in a farming community outside of Landis. Like many farming families Jessica's family was large, she had lots of siblings. She was somewhere in the middle in terms of birth order and thus both an older and younger sister. She grew up always surrounded by her siblings, having people to play with and teach her stuff and teach stuff too and what not. Jessica's house caught fire at night and her family died in the fire. Jessica who had a habit of sleeping outdoors was not in the house and thus the only survivor. She suffered from survivor's guilt and was unused to being alone. It was probably the survivor's guilt that caused Jessica to run away rather than allowing another family to take her in. Jessica wasn't alone for too long before she noticed Wrath. Wrath of course sort of formed the role of surrogate younger sibling. Being an older sister for Wrath sort of gave Jessica a purpose and a reason to keep on living. Jessica feared being left alone more than anything else. She had a little trouble adjusting to Wrath calling her Sister at first because it reminded her of all of her dead siblings.


End file.
